[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/SAoO19v.jpg[/img][/center]

Katherine continued her clever remarks, but Tamia didn't pay them any attention.  An apple was placed into her hands by a strange doll, and for a moment the slave stared at it in place of the floorboards but didn't take a bite.  A cool wind blew past the group, the thinly clothed cat shivering slightly in response.

The slave had messed up.  Mistress was angry.  There were stories about what occurred when anger filled the heart of a member of her master's household.  Those rumors were terrifying.  A disobedient slave would be where that anger was going to be directed.

As if to confirm her fears, the red fruit was soon stolen straight from her hands by her owner, and the sound of ravenous biting tearing through the fruit with astonishing speed as if a starving lion had come across it's prey went through her ears.

[color=0076a3]"And just what do you think [i]YOU[/i] were doing, laughing at [i]ME[/i]?"[/color] A calm voice spoke, issuing a surprisingly soft lecture given the infraction.

The slave's green eyes looked up for a second at the face of her mistress.  A look of disapproval was coming from her eyebrows, and it took a second for Tamia to realize that those words weren't calm and without anger.  Rather, they were lifeless words like the hail of a blizzard.

Suddenly the slave's collar was grabbed and the air left her lungs, breathing difficult as the mark of her servitude choked her fragile neck, only allowing the shallowest of breaths to pass through.  Only a few inches away from the visage of her infuriated visage, the kitten's terror spread from her eyes to the rest of her face.

The cat's arms remained limp.  A lifetime of servitude had taught her not to resist, and the horror that was the anger of her mistress would have made even the most free spirit freeze in fright.

[color=0076a3]"And just what do you think [i]YOU[/i] were doing, laughing at [i]ME[/i]?"[/color]

The collar was released, Tamia naturally taking a few desperate breaths in response to refill her emptied lungs.

[color=0076a3]"Or maybe you'd like me to feed you to whatever wants to eat us first in that forest, hmm? Use you as a living distraction?"[/color]  Tamia felt pain flood her skull as it was sent forward with a punishing slap to the back of her head, and that in combination with the harsh realization that her mistress was more than willing to dispose of her for a convenience sent a few drops of water falling from her eyes.

The slave waited obediently for the next hit, but a lecture followed instead.

The slave known as Tamia was Eirwen Soyala's property.
The slave known as Tamia was only to attend her owner.
The slave known as Tamia was not to allow the touch of another, and inform her mistress if they did.

A few more tears fell from her eyes as she noticed Eirwen offering her property an apple, to which Tamia grabbed cautiously with both hands..  One did not reject the gifts of their owners ...

... but her mistress' emotionless gaze gave no indication of her feelings.  Tamia took a nervous bite from the fruit, pulling her exposed legs to her chest and wrapping her tail around them as if to lock them in place.  The cat was curled into a small ball, nibbling away at a fruit she was too scared to reject but had no appetite to eat.

[color=wheat]"Yes Mistress.  This slave is grateful for owner's discipline, and only wishes to become properly obedient.  Miss Eirwen's property apologizes for ignorance and seeks to know if owner has any other rules or if there is a way for to make up that failure to mistress."[/color]

From another, these words could sound sarcastic or not genuine.  From the lips of Tamia though, they sounded utterly genuine even though they were inspired by fear.  Beatings were bad, and death was worse.  

Although the kitten tried to hold them back, tears continued to fall from the cat's two green orbs as Tamia's face fell against her upright legs, the half eaten apple held by two hands in her lap.  The kitten was shivering slightly although it was not cold outside.